With training in marine biology and a commitment to feminism, Dr. Eva Hayward investigated the connections between these two areas while working as a research assistant at the Long Marine Laboratory (Santa Cruz, CA) with marine scientists studying population dynamics of cup corals (Balanophyllia elegans). During this investigation, Hayward asked: How might marine biology inform or refine questions important to feminist theory (such as embodiment, identity, and materiality)? And, in exchange, how might feminism contribute to studies of reproduction and sexual difference in marine biology?
A transdisciplinary scholar, her research at the University of Arizona focuses on the study of sensation, sexuality, and marine science.
In her talk on November 13th, Dr. Hayward provided us with a highly interesting ethnographic account of insights she gleaned from this investigation, focusing specifically on how the interaction with the non-human-other (corals) in the laboratory offered new insights into feminist theories of the body and materiality, as well as demonstrating how ideologies of gender and sex continue to influence scientific knowledge.
In winter term 2019, Eva Hayward stays in Graz as a guest professor via the Fulbright NAWI Graz Role Model programme.
